


I Love You Three Thousand

by CityofAangels



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Endgame Fix-It, Fix-It, Gen, Hope, Hurt Tony, Hurt and comfort, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Spoilers, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, endgame spoilers, i just need to write, ok, thank you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 16:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18595501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CityofAangels/pseuds/CityofAangels
Summary: No summary because of spoilers!But please, do read it. You'll feel better.





	I Love You Three Thousand

**Author's Note:**

> This is now the only ending I consider as correct.  
> Thank you Marvel, but no.  
> This might become a series. We'll see.

Pain.  
What a simple word. Four letters, not even a second to say it out loud. And yet, these four letters could mean so much.  
He'd thought he knew what pain was. Fair assumption, for someone like him, right? After all, there weren't many people that could say they knew what getting their heart ripped out while they were awake felt like. Lucky him, he knew; even luckier, he knew, because it had happened multiple times. He'd known all sorts of pain throughout his life. The aches and bruises after he'd been too much of a smartass, according to his father – and god, what a fucking irony this was! The dull headache that came after a night spent drinking to forget. The broken bones, open wounds, near-death experiences that being Iron Man enticed. The devastating pain of losing a loved one. Of watching him disintegrate, right in front of his eyes, and being unable to do anything about it.  
Yeah, he'd thought he knew pain. Like an old friend, maybe; like something he was still afraid of, but knew he could deal with.  
God, what an idiot he'd been.

What he'd known wasn't pain. It was mere prickles, small slaps on his skin, compared to this. His entire body burned, like he was being lit on fire, his right arm turning red, then black, right in front of his eyes. His knees buckled and he screamed, rage, pain, despair, everything mixed into one inhuman yell. He wanted this to stop; god, make it stop.  
But the moment stretched, seconds turning into interminable hours, his body convulsing from sobs and pain, unthinkable pain, his knees buckling, sending him face-down into the dusty floor. He could barely see anymore; just flashes of light, a shadow moving far away.  
So he closed his eyes.  
Whispered in a broken voice "three thousand times, ladybug".  
Pictured his daughter. Sweet, funny, adorable, smart Morgan.  
This hurt more than anything. The thought of leaving her behind, of only having had five perfect, but so short, years with her. He'd been looking forward to so many things with her. Watching stars, getting her to ride a pony like she'd begged for weeks, watching her grow, watching her smile, watching her talk, watching her learn, watching her love, watching her happy. Hearing "hi daddy! " every morning and never, ever getting tired of it.  
Saying I love you, and thinking it, unconditionally, with his whole being. Knowing his life finally made some sense.  
A tear made its way down his face, leaving a clear path through blood, dirt, sweat.  
No. Please, no.  
Please.  
No.

And then, just as he was thinking his final goodbyes, just as the brightness of his daughter's smile, the tenderness of Pepper's eyes, the pride Rhodey felt, all flashed in front of his eyes, in an endless moment of pain, sadness and happiness, then, there was a hand grasping his.  
The fire spread through his body and he could feel the stones' power moving from him to whoever was there, spreading, the pain going from unbearable to simply extreme. Suddenly, it felt like he could breathe again, and he did just so, taking a breath that sounded more like a gasp, jerking on the floor. Turning his head, slowly, oh, so slowly, to see who was there.  
Pepper.  
No, he tried to say, but his voice had left him, and he just mouthed the word. Could do nothing but watch as Pepper nodded next to him, and he could almost picture her smiling, that small sad thing she did when she knew there was no other choice.  
NO, he yelled, internally, but couldn't do anything. No, no, no, please, please, take me, but not her.  
Not her. Not her, he thought as Pepper slid to her knees, her body jerking, lit up with a billion sparkles.

And then Rhodey was there. His hand in his charred, burned black one, a bright flare of pain that he ignored because – Rhodey.  
This was a nightmare. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, goddamit. Let him die, let him go, just him. Not his family.  
He tried, weakly, to take his hands out of theirs, but their grip was unyielding, like it's always been. We're here, Tony, it said, without needing any word. We're here and we chose to be.

A shadow, just in front of him. He looked up, recognised the red and blue.  
Don't do that, kid. Please, don't. I just got you back.  
But he was so powerless – once again, all he could do was watch as Peter kneeled next to Rhodey, grasped the colonel's hand, and gasped as the power flew through him, instantly lighting up his suit, a bright flare of colours that could have been artistic in any other circumstances.

Next to him, Pepper gasped, and he closed his fingers tight on hers, tried to summon the power back to him, to save her, but instead, it spread even more. Flew to Nebula, who was watching him, her gaze so reminiscent of the intense one she had when they were playing their stupid game, when she was watching over him as he slept and waited to die. How ironic. Sparks flew over her metal body, and her eyes closed as she fell down, never once letting go of Pepper's hand, never once faltering or hesitating.

Shadow after shadow, their little circle grew. Rocket raced up to them, stopped for a second, and then slid over next to Nebula, just as Groot was joining him. Both of them kneeled, braced for impact.

The pain had abated – still there, still burning, boiling his blood, turning his bones to burning wood – and he watched in wonder as still more people joined them. Quill. Gamora. Drax. Thor joined the Guardians, his beard and hair flowing majestically as he braced for the power to hit him, Stormbreaker lighting up like a bright flare of lightning at his feet. Clint ran up to them, let his quiver fall next to him, looked up at the sky, mouthed for you, and grasped Thor's hand. Then Bruce was there, looking majestic and scary when the power of the stones flew through him, bathing his skin in a green light.

Steve came running up, his face bloody and bruised, but still the same determination in his eyes. Bucky was just there, right there behind him, and despite the history between him and Tony, there was not a second of doubt as he took Steve's hand and waited for Sam to join them, his vibranium arm sending sparks everywhere. Scott was suddenly appearing, shrinking from his superhuman size, and Strange was right behind him, looking Tony into the eyes and raising just one finger.  
One possibility.  
One.  
The sorcerer's smile was so gentle, tears started spilling out again.

T'Challa was there too, holding Okoye's hand tight, not protesting when Shuri joined them. Valkyrie slid off her winged horse, a smile on her face.

Then Carol was there, scarily powerful, and she kneeled right in front of Tony, smiled to him so brightly that Tony had to close his eyes again.  
Her hands were on his bloody face, and he felt unbelievable heat go through him as her fingers linked behind his neck. She was whispering, words that Tony couldn't and wouldn't make out, but he felt his whole body start to tingle, and could feel his friends – his family – reacting to it all around him.  
Light surrounded them all, unbearably bright, and he closed his eyes tight, braced for impact, for whatever was about to happen. The battle kept going on all around them, yet everything was so silent, frozen still, as if the world was waiting to see which side the balance would tilt on.  
A flash of lightning and thunder shook the earth all around them, and Tony instinctively tucked his head towards his chest to protect himself.  
And then he waited.  
Waited.  
Opened his eyes. Turned his head. Saw Pepper watching him, the helmet off.

Hope.  
Four letters.  
Hope.  
So many possibilities.


End file.
